Railway-fastener.



C. H. CORNELL.

RAILWAY FASTENER. APPLICATION FILED 1AN.29. 1913.

1,150,578, Patented Aug. 17, 1915.

WITNESSES [N VENT OR CHARLES'H. CORNELL, OF VALENTINE, NEBRASKA.

RAILWAY-FASTENEB.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 1*? 1915.

Application filed January 29, 1913. Serial No. 745,041.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLns H. CORNELL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Valentine, in the county of Cherry and State of Nebraska, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway.- Fasteners; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention is a railway fastener more particularly of the type disclosed in a previous Patent No. 943,521, granted to me on December 14, 1909, of which this is an improvement.

One disadvantage in the structure disclosed in said former patent resides in the ditliculty in clamping the rail firmly to the tie after said tie has deteriorated to such an extent that the under cam surface of the head of the clamping bolt, disclosed therein, fails to draw the upper and lower plates into closer proximity. Moreover, the construction of the lower plate permits of water entering the aperture of the tie, thereby promoting the rapid deterioration of the parts.

One purpose of this invention, therefore, is to overcome the defects noted and thereby extend the life of the tie.

Another object of this invention is to provide means whereby the plates may be closely adjusted or clamped to a tie, said adjusting means being equally as effective after the wooden tie begins to deteriorate, or for any other reason becomes of less thickness, as at its initial application.

In addition to the close adjustment of the plates this improved construction contemplates the locking of the various parts in their adjusted positions as will be herein after more fully described.

A further purpose of the invention is to afford closer adjustment of the parts, said adjusting means being simple in construction, whereby the plates may be readily, quickly and easily assembled and adjusted from time to time.

Vi ith these ends in view, this invention consists of a plurality of clamping members or bolts havingmeans whereby they are retained in operative relation to the rail and tie.

Disposed at the ends of the clamping members, and adapted to bear against the upper and lower sides of the tie, are two plates. One of these plates is provided with a plurality of bosses for the engagement of the ends of said clamping members, said bosses serving also as n'leans'whereby water and other injurious substances are excluded from the interior of the tie. Other novel and advantageous features will appear from the detailed description of the invention, taken in connection with the drawings, and specified in the appended claim.

One embodiment of the invention is illu trated in the accompanying drawings in which- Figure 1 is a plan view of a part of a tie and rail secured by the fastener. Fig. 2 is a sectional view through a rail and tie illustrating the operation of the fastener. Fig. 8 is a plan view of the upper plate. Fig. 4 is a plan view of the lower plate. Fig. 5 is a sectional view on the line 55 of F 4.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings, an ordinarv tie is illustrated at 1, having a rail 2 positioned thereon.

Between the rail and the tie is provided an upper plate 8, shown more particularly in Fig. Said plate is provided with a plurality of openings 4 adjacent to which are a series of apertures 5, for a purpose to be hereinafter explained.

The ties l are provided with transverse apertures, shown at 6, for the passage of suitable clamping means, such as the bolts 7. Any number of these apertures (3 may be provided but in the drawings I have illustrated the ties as equipped with but two apertures and providing two bolts 7 there for. The tops of these bolts are preferably provided with a rectangular member 8, whereby the bolts may be rotated, and also with a flattened protruding head 9. This head is disclosed in the drawings as substantially circular in plan and provided with a series of notches 10 which are adapted to coincide with the perforations 5 of the plate 3, whereby the bolt may be locked against turning, as will be hereinafter set forth. The greater portion of the shank of the bolts 7 is of a diameter substantially equal to that of the apertures 6 through the tie 1 so that the bolt will substantially lit within the aperture. In the construction the lower end of the bolt is shown, however,

with

reduced in diameter and provided screw threads 14:.

Deteriorating substances, such as water, entering the apertures 6 or other parts of the tie, frequently cause the tie to deteriorate or otherwise lose its strength. To close these apertures against the ingress of such substances, I have provided a plate 11 corresponding substantially to the plate 3. This plate 11 is shown provided with a plurality of upstanding bosses 12, the outer walls of which are preferably tapered, as shown in Fig. 5, to closely fit within the lower end of the apertures 6 and close said apertures against the entry of water or other deleterious substances. The threaded end of the bolt 7 is adapted to engage the boss 12 and operate to bring plates 3 and 11 into a tight, frictional clamping position over the tie. WVhen the head 9 of the bolt has been brought into proper engagement with the lower flange of the rail 2 to maintain said rail in rigid relation to the tie, and at the same time hold said plates 3 and 11 into rigid clamping relation with the tie, the

bolt may be retained in such relation by the employment of any suitable means, such as a spike 13, illustrated in Fig. 2. This spike is passed through an aperture 5 of plate 3 into engagement with the tie, while the upper portion of the spike will be seated within one of the notches 10 on the head of the bolt.

It will be readily understood that should the tie shrink in thickness, or should it deteriorate to any extent, it is merely necessary to remove the spike 13, rotate the bolt 7 by means of its rectangular member 8 to draw the lower plate 11 toward the upper plate 3 and into contact with the tie, at the same time clamping the rail 2 to the tie. The bolts may be readily removed from the tie by unscrewing the same from engagement with the bosses of the lower plate, when it is desired to place another plate in position.-

In operation, it is preferable to apply the lower plates 12 in their normal position before the tie is set upon the ground. After the rails have been laid to the proper posi- Gopies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Washington, D. G.

ing from its adjusted position by the employment of the spikes.

It is obvious that thisdevice can be used on ties of other material than wood, such for example as concrete, or'metal, thereby enabling the manufacturer to reduce the width of the tie and at the same time afford a close adjustment of the parts insecuring the rail to the tie.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: y

In a railway fastener, the combination with a rail tie having transverse apertures and a rail, of a plate arranged at the bottom of the tie, said plate having a plurality of upstanding wedge shaped bosses adapted to be positioned between the rail and tie and provided with a plurality of retaining apertures, a plurality of rotatable bolts adapted to pass through the tie and cooperate with both of said plates, each of said bolts comprising a substantially rectangular actuating end, notched rail-engaging head and a shank of varylng diameters to substantially fit the apertures in the tie and engage a wedge shaped boss, said rotatable bolts operating to draw the lower plate to various positions toward the upper, plate without altering the position of the tie or rail, and removable locking means to engage the notched portion of the head and apertures of the upper tie plate, whereby the plates may be retained in a predetermined position with relation to the tie and the rail.

In testimony whereof I affix my sigmature in presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES H. CORNELL;

Witnesses: I

HIRAM J, Snitrnn, HARRYA. On'rrr.

Commissioner of Patents. 

